Hong Kong for the 2nd time!

My friends and I went on a spontaneous Hong Kong trip during the New Year 2015. It was just a short 4 days 3 nights trip, where our plan is just to EAT all the nice food in HK! LOL


Day 1 - 01 January 2015 
Happy New Year! We flew via HK Express and arrived HK around 5am in the morning. Changed to jackets and boots before we took a bus to Mongkok.

First group selfie for year 2015

Riding our way to Mongkok

Checked into Dragon Hostel (room for 4 at HKD640/night). As expected, the room was super duper triple small!

707 - Dragon Hostel

I think this was our room, except that both were double-decker beds when we stayed.

Hungry as hell, so went to a nearby coffee shop for breakfast. First meal was a disappointment. Good news was we only ordered two and we shared. :)

breakfast

After a half-full stomach, we proceed to buy our Octopus Card. Then we took the MTR and visited our first destination - The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC).

Loved the skyline in HK. Perfect climate on that day too!

Lovin' HK

Took a photos with the compulsory tourist spot - The Forever Blooming Bauhinia Sculpture.

tourist checklist - tick!

We had so much fun taking jumpshots too!

All legs in the air? Checked!

Happy to be in HK!

Managed to find someone to take a jumpshot for all of us!

The place was so lovely that we decided that we could just walk our way to the next destination.

HK in indeed a city full of skyscrapers! Glass window everywhere!

Saw some protestors' camps for the Yellow Umbrella Movement

Walked to a park with awesome view

Saw another protest along the way...

After a very very long stroll, we decided to have late breakfast at the famous Michelin Star Dim Sum - Tim Ho Wan. Queued for 2.5 hours which makes our brunch to late lunch. It's all worth it though! The dim sum was really two thumbs up!

HK style, sharing table for a meal.

I miss this soooooooo much!

After a full lunch, we were beginning to feel tired as lack of sleep the night before. So we went back to the hostel for a nap... zzZZzzzZZzzz

In the evening, went decided to go for an evening stroll in the Avenue of Stars and for view of HK night skyline. It was packed like hell! So we decided to come back only after dinner.

One of the few photos without being photobombed... it was packed like sandwiches!

By the time we maneuver over the crowd to get out of Arena of Stars, it was already 9.30pm when we reach our dinner venue. So our dinner turned to supper! LOL Indirectly it was good news, because we were having spicy steamboat buffet, and now we are paying for the same food, but at supper rate instead of dinner! Cheaper! LOL

I dont think I've ever eaten so many meat on one meal!

After dinner, we went back to Avenue of Stars for midnight stroll. It was really windy that night! We were almost frozen! Brrrrr........

No more crowd, but very windy!

Day 2 - 02 January 2015 
As expected, we woke up late. By the time we went out, it was already almost lunchtime. LOL Had a few snacks along the way, and also a quick lunch in a local coffee shop.

One of the few snacks for breakfast

Typical coffee shop in HK - very packed

Then we took a bus to Stanley and visited the overrated Stanley Market.

Stanley Market - which reminds me of Batu Feringgi Night Market

We prefer to enjoy the view from the Stanley Bay instead.

chilling at the bay

 Had a blast playing with the sun as well ! And we managed to catch the sunset!

Sunset love

:)

:)

After sunset, we took the bus back and decided to grab some dinner before heading to a bar! We were super hungry at that time and we just decided to eat in a random restaurant. We tried the porridge, wanton soup & wanton mee.

Not nice!

 After a huge disappoinment, we decided to just head to our next itinerary, Ozone Bar - Highest Bar in the World located in Ritz Carlton Hotel!!

Ritz Carlton, HK

Cool entrance of the bar

We almost froze to death sitting outdoor in the 118th floor. But the night view from above was really spectacular! 

HK from up above!

Two of our drinks

fingers and face almost frozen taking this selfie lol

On the way back to hostel, we spontaneously decided to just visit Lan Kwai Fong since it was on the way. 

We even entered one of the club that gives free drinks for ladies. LOL Nothing special on the club.


When we decided to go back to the hostel, we missed the last MTR back to Mongkok by 2 minutes! Argh.... Being confident, we decided to save money on taxis and opt to take the bus instead. We ended up getting lost and wonder around the streets for 1.5 hours. We only managed to find the place to take the midnight bus at around 2am! 

our relieved faces when we found the bus

Just when we thought the night was over, another drama began. Upon reaching Mongkok, two of us went down but the other two didnt manage to get down on time. The bus driver started moving. The first two who went down did not realised what happened until like maybe 30 seconds later (brain jam as it was already almost 3am at that time). Luckily we did manage to get hold of each other via several phone calls and meet at the entrance of our hostel. LOL 




Day 3 - 03 January 2015  
We woke up late again and had random snacks like smelly tofu, curry fishballs, and some dim sum in 7eleven. We also tried one of HK's famous food - the roasted goose in a local coffee shop. 

roasted goose

smelly tofu

Then we decided to go easy today and went random shopping in Mongkok for a while. 

We ended up in Esprit outlet store for many many hours! So, our plan to visit The Peak was cancelled. LOL

Of course in between, how can we miss eating at the famous Hui Lau Shan!

mango desserts FTW!

After shopping, we had dinner at Sushi One. It was also a late dinner as after 10pm, the sushi will be at half price! LOL

sushi one

After dinner, we decided to call it a day. We bought ciders and beers and played Heads Up! in our small hostel room.   

Day 4 - 04 January 2015 
Last day in HK! It was also the earliest day we woke up throughout our trip. LOL We packed our bags and went hunting for 20 packets of 7eleven curry fishballs to pack home. Mission accomplished after we visited about 5 different 7eleven stores.

Then we checked out but left our luggage with the hostel personnel. We then took the MTR to Causeway Bay to grab our food souvenirs.  I bought my share of Portuguese egg tarts. I'm not a fan of Portuguese egg tarts at all, but that was yummy! The one and only Portuguese egg tart that I eat. LOL

Lord Stow's Bakery

Along the way, I bumped into Godiva store and couldnt resist spending HKD45 on this! This ice-cream really tastes like heaven!

best ice-cream eveeeeeeeer!

We also bought some famous biscuits from the legendary Koi Kei Bakery originated in Macau. I bought some almond cookies as my family loves them!

We carried all these eggtarts, biscuits and cookies till our arms ache back to the hostel. Then we had only 30 minutes to rearrange our luggage to put everything that we bought inside! Had to make sure the curry fishballs were tightly packed in plastic bags just in case it spills. Had to make sure the eggtarts are all facing upwards. Had to make sure all our biscuits and cookies and egg tarts are easy to handle for our journey back to Penang!
  
Then we grabbed our luggages and went on to take a bus directly to the Airport. We had dinner in the airport foodcourt. Then we had a horrible run chasing our way to our gate to catch the shuttle bus to our plane! We almost missed our flight!

Finally, we arrived Penang safely a little past midnight, and suffered like a zombie the next day at work. LOL

Hong Kong Day 8

6 November 2010
Good morning! This was my last day in HK.

I woke up and switched on the tv and it was cartoon!

It reminded me of my childhood days where I'd wake up early in the morning just to watch cartoons. The only worry I have at that time is what if I missed my cartoon?

We bathed and had some 7-eleven breakfast tapao-ed by Peter last night from Tsing Yi MTR Station (instant noodle and buns).

Yin wasnt feeling very well maybe due to the rain last night and we were out there the whole day. So Yin and Peter both stayed at the hotel and I went off to Disneyland Park first.

I went straight to Tomorrowland and the first ride I had at the Disneyland Park was Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.

Halfway thru the queue, there's a robotic Buzz Lightyear that moves and tells the mission of this ride, which is Help Buzz Lightyear to save the universe from the evil Emperor Zurg.

I was never a fan of Toy Story. But I did watch the latest Toy Story 3.

Anyway the ride is something like this. We will be seated in this little cabin which gives u total control. You can turn the cabin 180 degrees in whichever ways you like. And see the score board at the cabin?

It will be accumulated when you managed to shoot the lightning buzzer throughout the whole ride using Buzz Lightyear's gun located in the cabin.

Really super shiok! It's like I'm controlling a space ship to shoot the monsters 180 degrees! Some more can see how well I've achieved at the end of the ride by looking at the scores. Love this ride that immediately I went for a second round! Hahahaha

After two rounds, I headed off to the next ride, Autopia. It's an outdoor ride so I wrapped myself in my jacket from the heavy rain!

Autopia is a ride where one will drive into the future aboard electric cars that cruise along the highways of tomorrow.

the first thought is KAREN!! YOUR CAR!! :P

Hopefully in the future there will still be so many greens around! GO GREEN! :)

The ride is something like the F1 Grand Prix Fun Kart in Genting Highlands but can speed slightly faster than that.

After the ride, my jacket was quite wet. A little bit regret that I played as it was really cold!

I decided not to play with Orbitron (something like flying dumbo but instead it would be a flying saucer) to avoid the rain.

I decided to just walk around and take photos. The first person I met was Woody from Toy Story.

woody is so tall

I walked to Fantasyland and saw this really cute canvas-like eating place and was imagining how it would be like in the summer filled with lots of tourists and most importantly, NO RAIN!

Okay. This is the one ride that I would NEVER enjoy playing.

The teacup that spins round and round and round. It wasnt a scary ride which involves dropping from high heights or going through dark tunnels filled with ghosts. But through experience, this ride has gave me a super terrible nausea feeling that would spoil the rest of my day and sometimes the next day. So I havent played this for years.. and I doubt I would anymore in the future. LOL But I love the teacups. I think they're so cute and colourful!

Spotted an elephant-shaped bushes near the Flying Dumbo.

A young lady was kind and offered to take a picture for me. Thank you!

Random shop selling Disneyland souvenirs.

I decided to ride the Cinderella Carousel. Personally, I think carousels are boring...but at the same time I think carousels are filled with childhood memories. When we're young, carousels are one of the happiest thing isnt it? Carousel means theme park!

Plus this Cinderella Carousel is so beautiful. It has 60 graceful, prancing horses!

It was still so early so I've decided to go to the Mickey's Philhar Magic for the 3D adventure again because I simply love it and I wouldnt want to forget the best 3D adventure I've ever been on.

After that, I just stroll around the park. Spotted this stall selling ice creams.

Walked passed Fantasy Gardens.

I didnt spot any Disney characters inside. Wrong timing.

Spotted this Mickey Fountain with lots of feather dusters.

And this particular one beside the fountain reminds me of Babette the feather duster from Beauty and the Beast.

It was nearly 1pm so I walked passed the Sleeping Beauty Castle to meet Yin and Peter.

vintage clock spotted near the Sleeping Beauty Castle

The three of us went to Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Yin and Peter loved the ride so went for another round! So in the end they played 2 times and I played 4 times!

We decided to head back to Main Street USA and look at the shops. Vintage vehicles can be spotted driving along the Main Street USA.

One of the shop that we entered.

look at the number of pens/pencils

and I love them!

i've been wanting this hairband but so expensive! T_T

Bakery...

Spotted three lovely people singing acappella songs of Disney in the bakery.

We went to Corner Cafe for lunch.

Then we continued looking at the shops in the Main Street USA.

I loved their Disney princesses collection. Look at how the story about each princess unfolds in their lovely dresses.

disney princesses + castle . Ariel from The Little Mermaid

Belle from Beauty and the Beast . Aurora from Sleeping Beauty

Snow White . Cinderella

Cinderella, Ariel and Snow White in a Carousel

disney princes and princesses

mickey and minnie

mickey

white castle . cystal frame

We have some extra time so we went to Art of Animation. It's a small little gallery that celebrates the Disney and Disney-Pixar animation.

You know how cartoons are made of? Nowadays we know they use the help of technologies and computers. But in the olden days every single movement has to be drawn out. Simple actions like eating or dancing will be drawn using hundreds of pages with each page the characters will be drew a few millimeters of difference. And when the pages are flipped quickly, the action drew will be revealed.

The spinning Toy Story Zoetrope helps to illustrate in 3D instead of in drawing. They build miniatures to show how statutory the miniatures are when it is individually shown, and how they reflect an action when is those string of individual miniatures of slight difference in millimeters are being spun together.

Watch till at least more than 12 seconds!

Outside the gallery, we spotted a photo session with Goofy and Pluto. We had our turn.

Then we went on to queue to take a photo with the legendary Mickey and Minnie!

Again, luckily it was raining so our queue was only about 15 minutes. I've heard from friends that they queued for more than an hour just to take a photo with Mickey during their trip!

We spotted Donald and Daisy Duck nearby so we went to queue to take photos with them too.

After that, it's time to bid farewell to Disneyland Park.

welcome because i took from another direction. Hehe

So this HK Disneyland, I missed the Disney on Parade due to the rainy weather and Space Mountain roller coaster ride due to their renovation. However, I'm still very happy to be in Disneyland. I cant believe that I've finally been to Disneyland. It has been a dream for me all these while. Dreams do come true? Hehe

So what do you do when your dream has come true? You make another dream!
So my next dream is to visit other Disneylands in the world.
1. Disneyland in Tokyo, Japan.
2. Disneyland in Paris, France.
3. Disneyland in Anaheim, California, USA.
4. Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida, USA.

Hopefully 2012 is not the end of the world yet! Hehe

We went back to Hollywood Hotel using the shuttle bus and took our luggage from luggage storage service. Yin and Peter has already check-ed out earlier before they meet up with me in Disneyland Park.

After changing into dry clothes, we took the shuttle bus to the MTR Station.

MTR Station at Disneyland

We took the Disneyland Resort Line back to Sunny Bay Station, change to Tung Chung Line and alight at Tsing Yi Station. Then we bought the Airport Express tickets back to the Airport.

HK International Airport is huge! Or maybe because I'm so used to the small airport in Penang. Hehe We checked in 2.5 hours before our boarding time in Terminal 2. Then we realised that our boarding gate is in Terminal 1. We walked for the nearly 2 hours before we reached our boarding gate. Only had about 30 minutes spare before the flight took off.

Had Nasi Lemak Combo from Air Asia on my way back home. This time, it was served with Old Town white coffee instead of plain water.

And I had that super craving feeling for chocolates! I bought m&ms too on the flight for RM4.

Touched down Penang safely at night. Dad, Mum and Shern greeted us at the airport!

That's the end of my one week HK getaway. Overall I think it was a nice trip with a lot of walking. Definitely a place that requires a good walking shoe. And I absolutely LOVE the desserts in HK. I think HKies are quite friendly too. And their toilets are clean. But it's difficult to find public toilets. Love their MTR transport system. So efficient that it makes driving in HK is useless. Shopping is great for ladies especially perfumes, beauty products and branded clothes/bags/shoes. Too bad I wasnt lucky enough to meet a celebrity there! :)